


Stars

by kathkin



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, gay married in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 15:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3901624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“Zoe’s given birth to a three-headed baby. And it’s been carried off. By the Cybermen. The Cybermen have carried off Zoe’s three-headed baby, Doctor.”</i> In which the Doctor has terrible listening skills, Jamie wants attention, and they kiss for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this Tumblr post](http://hikaruchord.tumblr.com/post/30495914831/just-so-were-clear-if-i-say-shut-up-and-you-say).

It wasn’t the middle of the night; he had to keep reminding himself of that, that by his reckoning it was about three o’clock in the afternoon. But outdoors it was as inky black as the depths of night, the streets lit only by hazy blue emergency lights and the odd chink of light here and there from windows. There was no moon, nor a sun. There were only the stars, twinkling above him like chips of ice.

Jamie came to a junction and stood, stamping his feet and huddling in his padded jacket as he tried to remember the way. The city – town, really – was built on a neat grid, which the Doctor said was typical of prefabricated settlements and Zoe said was easier to navigate. Well, Jamie could believe the former, but not the latter. Give him a proper town with proper landmarks.

Four blocks, then left – right? – left. He turned on the spot and strode confidently down the street. As he walked, he tipped his head back to look at the stars, draped overhead in a glittering canopy. They were arranged entirely differently to what he was familiar with. He was getting to be used to that, but it still made him feel funny in his stomach, thinking of where he was. Today he was a million light-years from earth, standing atop a rock floating in space – an asteroid, it was called. It was, mystifyingly, part of a belt, and tidily named Asterius.

He was in enough of a dwam that he walked clean past the generator block and had to double back half a dozen paces. _Bang_ went the door behind him, _clang, clang, clang_ the metal stairs down to the lower level, and _crash_ the other door. Really, it was a wonder the Doctor didn’t hear him coming.

A wave of warmth hit him the moment he stepped over the threshold. “Och,” he said, ripping off his gloves. “So this is where all the heat’s been goin’, is it?” There was a faint grunt from the other side of the generator. Jamie rolled his eyes and unzipped his jacket.

The generator reminded him of a giant pine cone, rising up from the floor below and narrowing to a point near the ceiling. It was pieced together from hexagonal metal tiles, some of them lit up blue, some of them dark. “Comin’ along, is it?” said Jamie, stomping around the generator in search of the Doctor.

Somehow it took him a full circuit and a half to find him, tucked away as he was, seated on a wee platform halfway to the floor below. He had a cat’s cradle of silvery wires in his hands, which he was staring at through a set of goggles that Jamie imagined made him look like a beetle. “Oh, there you are,” he said. He leaned on the safety rail about the generator pit, peering down. “Doctor?” There was no response. “Hey! Doctor!” That earned him the briefest of glances, which he took to mean he could go on. “Look, Zoe says you’re to come and look at the readings she’s getting on the atmospheric – the atmospheric – those instruments she’s usin’, and she said she’d come see you herself but she’s still takin’ readings, and you’re to come quick because it’s important.” It’d come out in rather a tumble, but he reckoned he’d got the important parts across. He waited for a reply, or at least an acknowledgement that he’d spoken, and got neither. “Doctor?” Silence. “Doctor, Zoe says it’s important, and you’re to come right away.”

Still, there was no reply. Jamie rolled his eyes and leaned down further, trying to give the Doctor a good nudge, but found he couldn’t do more than brush the top of his head, which did no good at all. “Did you hear what I said? Zoe and her readings? It’s urgent?” Silence. “Och.” He kicked the safety rail, making it hum all about the room. “Are you even _listenin’_ to me?” The Doctor silently began to fit his wires, ever so carefully, back into the generator. 

“Doc-tor,” said Jamie, drawing the name out. “There’s Daleks attacking.” Nothing. “ _And_ Cybermen. Both at once.” Still nothing. He leaned down further and tried again. “Zoe’s given birth to a three-headed baby.” Not a peep. “And it’s been carried off. By the Cybermen. The Cybermen have carried off Zoe’s three-headed baby, Doctor.”

“Yes, very nice, Jamie,” said the Doctor mildly.

“ _Ach_ ,” said Jamie bitterly, shoving himself away from the safety rail. “You great –”

There was a sudden _crack_ and a shower of sparks. Fortunately the _crack_ was loud enough to hide his embarrassing yelp of surprise. It must have been a good crack and good sparks, for the Doctor leapt out of the pit, easing his ridiculous goggles off his face. “One to go,” he said – to himself, Jamie thought.

He tripped forward, joining the Doctor in the gap in the rail. “Doctor –”

“Jamie, really,” said the Doctor, whipping out a handkerchief to mop his brow. “Please don’t bother me while I’m working. This takes a great deal of concentration, you know. One wire out of place and this whole town could go up. Whoomph!” He flapped his hands, imitating an explosion.

“Aye, but –”

“And really, I’d hate for you to have that kind of a mess on your conscience,” said the Doctor.

“Och, it’s _important_ –”

“So Jamie,” the Doctor went on. “Will you kindly _shut up_?”

Bristling now, Jamie folded his arms and fixed the Doctor with a stern look – or it was meant to be stern, but it came out as more of a tease. “Make me.”

The Doctor’s head swung around to face him, and for a moment a look crossed his face that Jamie could only describe as calculating.

“Alright,” he said brightly – and without any further ado, he tucked his handkerchief into his pocket, cupped his hand about Jamie’s face, and kissed him.

He did it all so quickly that it was over before Jamie could even begin to process what was happening. One moment he was all over furious, on the brink of a rant about the Doctor’s listening skills; the next he was utterly befuddled, his mind as blank as a stretch of untrodden snow.

“I thought that would do it,” said the Doctor cheerily. He patted Jamie’s cheek and nigh-danced away around the generator to the next platform.

Jamie’s fingers strayed, shakily, to his mouth, where he could still feel the impression of the Doctor’s lips, like a mark pressed into soft wax. It took him long moments to muster any kind of thought at all, let alone speak. He drifted about the generator, and found himself standing over the Doctor’s hunched form before he was really aware of moving.

He said, “Doctor –” but mercifully was cut off before he could go on any further.

“You’re in my light,” said the Doctor, and so he sidestepped neatly away, murmuring apologies. “You couldn’t fetch me an ion bonder, could you? It’s the silver thing on top of the toolbox over there.”

“Oh, aye, aye,” Jamie stammered, walking away obediently to fetch it.

He hovered over the Doctor while he worked, too cowed to speak till he was all but done. He tried several times to say something, but never got further than, “I –” or “ah –” before giving up. When, at great length, he managed to get as far as, “Doctor, ah, I –” he was interrupted by a great _crack_ and a WHOOSH of energy. The generator lit up, floor-to-ceiling. Its hexagonal panels opened up with a _clunk_ , making it look all the more like a pinecone; and slowly, sedately, it began to spin.

The Doctor hopped up off the platform, ducking out of the way of the sailing panels, narrowly avoiding a dunt to the head. “There we are!” he said, evidently proud of himself. He shucked off his goggles and produced a fresh handkerchief, with which he wiped first his face and then his hands. “That ought to hold it for a while longer, eh?”

“Aye,” said Jamie vaguely. His fingers strayed to his lips again. He tried to disguise it, rubbing the back of his hand over his mouth.

“Now, what was it you were saying about Zoe?” said the Doctor, running the handkerchief between his fingers. “Something about a baby, was it?”

“I –” Jamie’s mind had been scourged clean. What was it? Something about her readings? He forgot. “I forgot.”

“Oh, well.” The Doctor folded his handkerchief into a pocket and steepled his fingers. “Can’t have been that important, then.”

“Aye. I ‘spose not.” Jamie rubbed the back of his neck, and found that he was still holding his puffy gloves. He shifted them awkwardly from hand to hand.

“Everything alright?” said the Doctor.

“Well, aye, but,” Jamie started. Plucking up his courage, he went on. “Doctor – you kissed me.”

“So?” The Doctor blinked owlishly – and then seemed to come over all shy. Jamie didn’t think he’d ever seen the Doctor get shy. “Well, I – I mean to say – that is alright, isn’t it?”

“Well – aye,” Jamie said, though _alright_ didn’t really cover it. “It’s just – do it again?” The Doctor blinked. “I wasnae paying attention.”

The Doctor gave him another of those shyly calculating looks – and he took Jamie’s face in his hands and kissed him. It was just a quick peck on the lips, but it was enough to take Jamie’s breath away. His lips were softer than Jamie would have thought, if he’d had thought about it – but the gentle way he did it, that was just what Jamie would have expected.

“Like that?” he said, his breath tickling Jamie’s lips.

“Aye,” said Jamie, “like that.” There was a fluttery sensation in his chest, something entirely, wonderfully new, but at the same time easy and natural and familiar. It was easy to take two handfuls of the Doctor’s coat and yank him closer, to kiss him properly.

A proper kiss, that was what he wanted, a proper kiss with a bit of tongue; and when his tongue dipped into the Doctor’s mouth the Doctor made a soft, happy noise, a _mmm_ that spread right through Jamie’s body, warming him down to his toes.

The Doctor’s hands slipped from Jamie’s face to his shoulders, and he surged forward, backing Jamie against the safety rail, deepening the kiss. Behind them the generator went _whoomph, whoomph, whoomph_ , and for long moments the only other sounds in the room were the creaking of the safety rail and Jamie’s rough breathing. He clutched at the Doctor’s coat, trying to get a better hold, and finally slung his arms about the Doctor’s waist, holding on tight.

The Doctor’s hand cupped his face again, his thumb stroking gently back and forth along his cheekbone; and then, slowly, with a breathy sigh, he drew back. Jamie’s eyes blinked open. “Well,” said the Doctor, “that’s rather nice, isn’t it?”

Jamie nodded. “Why haven’t we been doin’ that all along?” he said, his voice a touch shaky.

“I’ve no idea.” The Doctor’s thumb stroked his cheek idly. “Hmm. Let’s try it again, shall we?” He tilted his head forward and planted another kiss upon Jamie’s lips. His hand strayed to the back of Jamie’s neck, stroking gently, raising goosebumps all up and down him. “Mmm. Yes.”

“Yes what?” They were pressed so close together their noses were brushing, and he could taste the Doctor’s breath in his mouth. It tasted like snow.

“Oh, you know,” said the Doctor, even though Jamie didn’t. His other hand ran up and down Jamie’s arm, and they stood for a few seconds in a thoughtful sort of silence, staring at each other. Jamie found himself drifting forward, making for another kiss.

Then, “well _excuse_ me,” rang out Zoe’s voice, “but am I interrupting something?”

They sprang apart – not all the way apart, mind, just moving from kissing-close to hugging-close – turning to look at Zoe in bewilderment. Jamie had quite forgotten about the mess they were all in, and he’d bet good money the Doctor had too. “Oh, hallo, Zoe,” said the Doctor. “Where did you spring from?”

“What _are_ you doing?” said Zoe.

“Oh, ah, tongue inspection,” said the Doctor.

“Tongue inspection?” said Zoe, incredulous – and Jamie dissolved into helpless giggles, his head falling forward upon the Doctor’s shoulder.

“Tongue inspection,” the Doctor repeated. “Very important, don’t you know.”

“ _Tongue_ inspection,” Zoe repeated more slowly. “You don’t actually expect me to believe that, do you?”

The Doctor worked a hand out from the tangle and scratched his ear. “I suppose it was a bit of a weak effort.” Lord, but they must have looked a picture, Jamie realised as he sobered up; all wound around each other, hands in places and all but kissing.

Zoe was rolling her eyes. “I suppose it’s about time.” Jamie was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, but she was nodding up at the generator. “I did wonder what was taking so long. Now that you’re finished with that thing, will you _please_ come and look at my atmospheric readings?”

“Readings!” Jamie snapped his fingers and pointed emphatically at the Doctor. “That was it. She wants you to come look at her readings, and it’s urgent.” He smiled, pleased with himself for remembering at last. 

Zoe’s dirty look successfully cowed him. He rubbed at the back of his neck, which still tingling from how the Doctor’d been touching him. “Sorry. I got a wee bit side-tracked.”

“Side-tracked,” Zoe repeated. “Honestly, Doctor, there’s important work to do and you’re down here – _canoodling_.”

“We’re no’ canoodlin’,” said Jamie, counter-productively at the same instant that the Doctor said, “oh, are we canoodling? How delightful.”

“ _Doctor_ ,” said Zoe, evidently ignoring Jamie now. “Readings. Now?”

“Oh, yes, yes, I shall be along in a moment,” said the Doctor, extricating himself fully from Jamie. “Don’t rush me.” He straightened himself out, making a vain effort to smooth his hair and clothes. Zoe was making impatient noises. “Alright, _alright_ ,” said the Doctor. “Lead the way.” 

He ambled a few paces on before doubling back and taking Jamie by the wrist. “Come along, Jamie,” he said, tugging him towards the stairs. 

Zoe was already babbling about her readings, but Jamie wasn’t paying attention, for as they climbed the stairs the Doctor’s shifted, holding Jamie’s hand instead of his wrist, and that was easy too.

The cold street outside already felt a little warmer for the Doctor’s efforts, though his breath still fogged the air. As the Doctor led him down the road he tipped his head back to look at the stars, still icy and unfamiliar behind their severe dome; and he couldn’t help but grin to himself.


End file.
